Staines Baptist Fellowship

Pr. John Miller writes about the challenge presented by the Street Angels project

Binge-drinking, under age clubbing and violence leave some people vulnerable and open to abuse. Like thousands of others in communities across the country we are looking for ways to make our town a safer and better place. One of the ways is Street Angels!

Street Angels and similar programmes such as Street Pastors have been springing up across the UK over the last two or three years. They make a really positive impact on crime and antisocial behaviour in town centres, particularly in the vicinity of bars and clubs, by providing a calming presence on the streets late at night.

Street Angels are volunteers who believe that people deserve care and love in their time of need. Those needs could be as a result of homelessness, intoxication, drug abuse, assault or any other issue which has caused personal distress or the potential for physical harm. They help people whoever they are and whatever their situation, for example by listening, caring, offering practical help or by referring people to other, specialist agencies who can help them.

Why should volunteers want to stay in Staines town centre until the early hours of Saturday morning, rain and shine? Because we care and want to make a difference. Christians believe that our faith needs to be worked out within serving our community. Other people volunteer simply because they see that Street Angels works and want to be part of something that makes a difference. Whatever the reason we believe that when good people do good then change will follow - Street Angels does just that!

God is far too big to be kept in a church building - as Christians we have chosen to live a life that makes a difference for good. And that difference needs to be made in the places where people are. The Lord's Prayer says "your Kingdom, your will be done, on earth as in heaven" - every time that prayer is said we are asking God to bring his kingdom of love, peace, safety, hope, crime reduction, life, joy - in fact everything that is good - to earth, to our communities. The way this is done is through us - through people committed to making a difference!

We are not pushing God, or church or the Christian faith - we are simply here to serve our town. We do it because God loves you - he cares about you! And he wants to make a difference in your life - for the better.

Staines Street Angels will operate with support from Surrey Police and other local agencies. Initially the police have asked Staines Street Angels to operate on Friday nights from around 9pm until around 2am when all the bars and clubs are closed. We may want to expand this to cover Saturday nights as well.

Click here to visit Staines Street Angels website